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Every 405,000 Years

For decades astronomers have theorized that like our Moon impacts our tides, over tens of thousands of years our closest and largest planets in our solar system (Venus and Jupiter) have influenced Earth’s climate. Since Serbian astrophysicist Milutin Milanković hypothesized his Earth orbital-cycles of variations in the 1920’s affected Earth’s climates, there simply hasn’t been any sufficient physical proof for his cycles theory. Until last month.

…provide[s] empirical confirmation that the unimodal 405-kiloyear orbital eccentricity cycle reliably paces Earth’s climate back to at least 215 million years ago, well back in the Late Triassic Period.

This conclusion was based on the geological research of three different cores: two from two different sites of ancient lake beds in New Jersey and New York, and one rock core 1,500-feet long from the Arizona’s Petrified Forest National Park.

The geologists noticed that lake sediment cores would disclose a consistent pattern of ancient lakes drying up then refilling over the course of hundreds of thousands of years forming different geological strata. This suggested cyclical changes in climate. The difficulty was that at the time they lacked the extensive methods to accurately date those climatic shifts. Fortunately, the Arizona Petrified Forest core, contained layers of ash from volcanic eruptions. These could definitely be dated because they contained radioisotopes.

Scientists compared and aligned the Arizona core dates to the NJ-NY ancient lake cores using bands found in all of the cores, indicating reversals in Earth’s magnetic fields. Yes, “reversals”! This allowed them to more precisely study the records. The analysis then demonstrated that the climate swings did indeed take place every 405,000 years for at least the last 215-million years, which is back through the Late Triassic Age when dinosaurs walked the Earth.

What does all this have to do exactly with Venus and Jupiter? Understanding gravitational forces by mass, Venus — the closest planet to us at 24-million miles — tugs us slightly closer to the Sun, and Jupiter — the largest planet in our solar system at 318-times more massive than Earth — tugs us slightly further from the Sun. At the peaks of those infrequent elliptical orbits, Earth has indeed historically experienced (the last 215-million years) hotter summers and colder winters with more extreme times of rain-flooding and dryer droughts

Antarctic ice strata also determines Earth’s climate millions of years in the past

Scientists can now link changes in the climate, environment, dinosaurs, mammals and fossils around the world to this 405,000-year cycle in a very precise way. The climate cycles are directly related to how the Earth orbits the sun and slight variations in sunlight reaching Earth lead to climate and ecological changes.

Beyond Earth’s ancient past and astrophysics this study is a substantial breakthrough for the methods in which geologists are able to date cores and present a reliable more accurate timeline of Earth’s geologic past. It will also assist in many other scientific domains!

Paleontologist of the University of Edinburgh, Dr. Steve Brusatte:

[With the aid of APTS and newest magnetostratigraphy it] is a really important study for clarifying the Triassic timescale and untangling the sequence of events that occurred as Pangea began to split up and the dinosaurs originated and then diversified. It’s mostly a study of how to tell geological time rather than of how changes in climate relate to evolution.

Most people want to know the more immediate concern: Where are we currently in the Venus-Jupiter climate-cycle? And could Venus’ and Jupiter’s tug-cycles be responsible for our current climate-changes?

Bad news climate-change deniers. Astronomers and astrophysicists calculate that we are about in the middle of the 405k cycle. Earth’s orbit is very close to circular, not elliptical, and presently not near enough to cause disruptions in climate or global warming. The changes we have been experiencing come from some 238-years of outsized human output and input in the release of greenhouse gasses.

Hahahaha! Yes, we “must go South in order to reach the North!” WHAT!!!???? 😲 “I’m all turned around then!” the flat-Earther exclaims,”And our flat-Earth (not spherical) is only about 6,000 years old, not 215-million or more!!!”

Then I respond, “Obviously you are not a geologist, paleontologist, climatologist-meteorologist, anthropologist, Earth scientist or a good mathematician either, are you?” 🧐🤭

I believe we are causes changes for sure. I just didn’t get that from the post. Are you saying because we are in the middle of this long 400,000 year change, it should be less extreme and it is not and there’s the proof of our effect?

I am by no means an climate expert, but the data here suggest you are correct. Nat Geo articles have different numbers of 200 and 300 thousand years, but this is the most current technology data PT has provided.

Jim has explained it well. What the scientific data and evidence are showing and have shown so far is that Earth does indeed go thru these types of abnormal (that is abnormal to us humans with highly limited grasps of 1, 10, or 100,000 year “Time-frames”) environmental and climate changes. However, they’ve always come in much larger time-periods. We humans are making the climate change much faster… in less than 175-years! Which according to Earth’s geological & climatological records is remarkably and horribly unprecedented!

Mary, I’ve been studying climate change since the late 1960s when it was simply known as “the greenhouse effect.” This doesn’t make me an expert, but it’s perhaps about as close as an amateur can get.

Climate science (i.e. climatology) has a very firm grasp on what’s causing our current global warming. They are able to measure and quantify the effects of solar forcing (i.e. variations in the Sun’s energy output), volcanism, cyclical periods of astronomical effects (e.g. the orbital eccentricity detailed in this post), as well as many other natural factors which affect the global temperature average. This isn’t speculation or guesswork. This is proven, verifiable science which dates back to the early 19th century. Yes, that’s two centuries of scientific study!

When all these natural factors are accounted for, computer modeling shows Earth’s current climate as very stable or even cooling slightly. But, it definitely isn’t stable. All empirical measurements clearly indicate Earth is rapidly warming up. When computer modeling includes anthropogenic (i.e. artificial, man-made) effects (e.g. the burning of fossil fuels), then the models closely match the actual observed changes in temperature. Furthermore, the burning of coal, oil, and natural gas leaves a unique chemical signature in the atmosphere which is clearly identifiable. Again, these observations match the expected warming we’re currently experiencing.

Hahahaha!!! I’m right there with ya Mary! I’ve been a zombie lately being so busy and just last night slept for near 12-hours. I STILL am not functioning at 100% and I’ve already had my strong 2-cups of coffee!!! 😬

I think it’s easy for people to deny climate change because people tend to ignore experts and go with what they can see and feel. Here in the Northeast, winters are bitterly cold and snowy. Summers are fairly hot. Spring and fall are somewhere in the middle. It seems like it’s always been this way so people assume that no changes are occurring. If no changes seem to be occurring then no action is needed to combat climate change and money spent on it has been wasted.

I think that there are just far too many people (of voting age) that feel this way and will vote down expensive proposals to fight this. Educating people who are comfortable in their ignorance is a tough task. A lot of people can have all of the data in the world that points towards climate change handed to them and they’d still dismiss it as “liberal doomsday mumbo jumbo.”

What utterly amazes me much of the time — on the topic of climate-change vs. these natural Earth and celestial cycles — are that regular Joe’s and Jane’s TALK as if they are mega-experts in these highly complex fields of science and math!!! OMFG, I would never EVER claim to be even a semi-knowledgeable Advanced mathematician! Geezzz, I struggle with basic algebra and fractions too much! Bwahahahaha! 😄

I don’t know about much so I need to rely on experts for this stuff. I mean, isn’t that why we have experts who do this for a living? If every regular Joe and Jane knew it all, why would we need experts and professionals?

Algebra? Fractions? You’re far more advanced than I am. I still struggle to hit the right buttons on my calculator.

Hahahaha!!! Yes, but Ben you have other strengths, gifts, life-experiences, etc, to be JUST AS BIG and CRITICAL to our human family to responsibly be a part of this planet’s well-being and needed/required improvements!!! All of us (well, those who CARE ENOUGH to step-up) have this responsibility and we SHOULD burn passionately to do it for all living species on this incredible “Pale Blue Dot”… the only home we’ve ever known. 😉 ❤